2016 Alaska Primary Elections

With 85 percent of precincts statewide now reporting, a clear picture is emerging — and the short version is, a lot of incumbents lost their jobs tonight. In the Republican race for Senate D in the Mat-Su Valley, the seat vacated by Senator Charlie Huggins appears to be going to David Wilson, NOT Lynn Gattis, a GOP favorite many expected to win. With all precincts reporting, Wilson has 52 percent of the vote to Gattis’s 47. Further south in Anchorage, Jennifer Johnston has won the republican spot for House District 29 over Ross Beiling. As of right now, several races in Western Alaska are too close to call. In House District 38, Democratic challenger Zach Fansler has a lead over incumbent Bob Herron two to one, but with less than 20 percent of precincts reporting. And far to the north, in District 40, Democrat Ben Nageak’s seat appears secure. With 61 percent of precinct results in, Nageak has 65 percent of the vote to Dean Westlake’s 35.

Update: 10:41 P.M. 08/16

When it came to the federal races, Tuesday’s election results held no surprises. As expected, Sen. Lisa Murkowski easily beat three lesser known Republican candidates. On the Democratic side, candidate Ray Metcalfe was well ahead of the Edgar Blatchford, with about half the vote counted. Murkowski’s more formidable challenge may come from independent candidate Margaret Stock. Stock has already raised half a million dollars for her campaign and is seeking to get on the November ballot by petition. Congressman Don Young had no trouble in his race Tuesday. The incumbent had a huge lead over three other Republicans. None of Young’s Primary challengers raised enough money to file campaign finance reports. Democrat Steve Lindbeck, though, has raised serious money to challenge Young. Lindbeck, a former general manager of Alaska Public Media, easily won his Primary challenge Tuesday.

Update: 11:45

The Republican battle for House 9 received a lot of press attention before the election. With all precincts in just before midnight, George Rauscher has defeated incumbent Jim Colver with Rauscher receiving 52% of the vote. Colver was just under 48%. The Republican race for Senate D, the seat vacated by Senator Charlie Huggins appears to have gone to David Wilson. With all precincts in, Wilson has more than 52% of the votes. Lynn Gattis has slightly more than 47%. Republican incumbent Wes Keller has lost to challenger David Eastman. Eastman took mre than 46% of the votes for House District 10 and Keller finished with 33%. The Republican race for House 11 representing Palmer shows Palmer mayor DeLena Johnson leading challenger Richard Best. Johnson has more than 55 % of the vote, compared with Best’s 44.5% with 100% of precincts in. Shelly Hughes appears to be leading in her race for the Republican nod for Senate F That’s the seat being vacated by Senator Bill Stoltze. With all precincts reporting, Hughes maintains a comfortable lead with 48% of the vote over closest challenger Adam Crum. Crum has 41% and candidate Steve St. Clair has 10% of the ballot.

All Primary race results are unofficial until certified by the state division of elections.

Update: 11:02 p.m.

Steve Lindbeck’s response to his Primary victory: “It’s going great. Lots of enthusiasm today. We’re hearing all kinds of reports, people voting for me. It’s exciting.” Lindbeck was former general manager of Alaska Public Media.

Update: 11:01 p.m.

In Anchorage’s House District 26, Chris Birch looks poised to unseat incumbent Bob Lynn, with a nearly 20 percent lead as 5 of 8 precincts have been counted. Former Anchorage School Board member Natasha Von Imhof is in the lead in her three-way race in Senate District L in South Anchorage. In the Mat-Su Valley, Republican incumbent Wes Keller is trailing challenger David Eastman by 14 percentage points, with 81 percent of precincts reporting reporting. Incumbent Paul Seaton House District 31 looks secure. In the highly contest Republican primary around Homer, Seaton has about 50 percent of the vote, with his challengers splitting the remaining votes evenly. KYUK is reporting that Zach Fansler has a lead over incumbent Bob Herron in the democratic primary in Bethel’s two precincts.Likewise, just 13 percent of the precincts have been counted in the North Slope’s District 40, however democratic incumbent Ben Nageak has a massive lead over challenger Dean Westlake, 84 to 16 percent.

Update: 10:51 p.m.

In regards to her Primary victory, Lisa Murkowski stated, “I think we have the reality of a very, very strong campaign that worked from the very beginning to make sure nothing was taken for granted.”